About those first-place Washington Redskins

* This isn’t the easiest thing to check, but I believe the Redskins were last in sole possession of the NFC East lead on Oct. 2 of 2005. At that point, Washington (which had an early-season bye) was 3-0, ahead of Philadelphia (3-1), New York (3-1) and Dallas (2-2).

* Here’s Tony Dungy, on NBC’s “Football Night in America” Sunday evening: “I’m going to take the other side of it, the surprise 2-0 teams” he said during a discussion of early-season surprises. “The biggest surprise is Buffalo. And my Washington Redskins, I’m on the bandwagon.”

* The Nationals haven’t started a season 2-0 since 2008. They also haven’t been in sole possession of first place in the NL East since April 3 of 2008, when they were 3-1 and had a half-game lead over the Mets.

* The Wizards haven’t started a season 2-0 since 2006. I’m not totally sure the last time they were first place in the Southeast Division, but I know they haven’t won a divisional title since 1979. That’s horrific.

* Remember how The Sporting News predicted the Redskins would finish 2-14? That means they sort of need a 14-game losing streak right about now.

* Sportsbook.com has the Redskins at 35-1 to win the Super Bowl, 14th out of 32 teams. That’s still behind the Cowboys (20-1) and Eagles (10-1). Bodog has it at 50-1. In the first week of September, Bodog had the Redskins at 100-1.

* The Redskins have started 2-0 six other times since Joe Gibbs was first hired in 1981. In 1982, they went on to win the Super Bowl. In 1986, they finished 12-4 and lost in the NFC title game. In 1991, they won the Super Bowl. In 2005 and 2007, they made the playoffs. That leaves only 2003, when they won their first two games under Steve Spurrier but sputtered to a 5-11 finish. So five of the six times, the 2-0 start led to a playoff berth.

* Here’s Don Banks, on SI.com: “Given the state of things with the Giants and Cowboys, Washington has every right to think it might be the most serious contender to Philadelphia's supremacy in the NFC East.”